In an October 20 1994 letter to North Korean strong- man Kim Jong Il .... President Clinton vastly expanded America's commitments under the formal agreement. The U.S., said Clinton, would finance the [nuclear] fuel shipments and the reactors if the consortium fails to do so. The total value of the U.S. pledge is estimated conservatively at more than $4 billion. In addition to leading the international energy assistance consortium, Washington has pledged to ease its long-standing trade embargo and move toward first-ever diplomatic relations with the North. These concessions provide Pyongyang a degree of political recognition by the U.S. and its allies that it long has sought. Left unaddressed is the immediate threat posed by the North's formidable conventional military force, which includes a large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and missiles capable of reaching South Korea and Japan. About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to counter the North's military threat. The Clinton Administration's aim in all of this is, first, to freeze the North Korean nuclear program and, ultimately, to assess the North's past efforts to build nuclear bombs and preclude any future weapons capabilities. U.S. intelligence and defense officials estimate that the North has enough enriched fuel to produce nuclear weapons. Secretary of Defense William Perry has stated, "it is possible they could make one or even two devices, perhaps even nuclear bombs." Even assuming smooth implementation of the October 21 agreement, however, its goals cannot possibly be fulfilled completely for at least a decade.

And here we are, 24 years later. Let's get ANOTHER Clinton in there to fix things!